diff --git a/Directory.Build.props b/Directory.Build.props
index de4eb4723e5..0d93c757059 100644
--- a/Directory.Build.props
+++ b/Directory.Build.props
@@ -3,6 +3,15 @@
   <Import Project="FSharpBuild.Directory.Build.props" Condition = " '$(FSharpTestCompilerVersion)' == '' "/>
   <Import Project="FSharpTests.Directory.Build.props" Condition = " '$(FSharpTestCompilerVersion)' != '' "/>
 
+  <!-- 
+   When developers load the FSharp.Compiler.Service solution we set FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE to true if it hasn't already been set to a value.
+   This option ensures that building and testing uses the specified FSharp.Core nuget package instead of the local
+   FSharp.Core project.
+   -->
+  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE)' == ''">
+    <FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE Condition="'$(SolutionName)' == 'FSharp.Compiler.Service'">true</FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE>
+  </PropertyGroup>
+
   <ItemGroup>
     <!-- If there is a README.md next to a project file, include it (for easier access in the IDE) -->
     <None Include="README.md" Condition="Exists('README.md')" />
diff --git a/src/Directory.Build.props b/src/Directory.Build.props
index 5950a28ad0f..68eba530bc9 100644
--- a/src/Directory.Build.props
+++ b/src/Directory.Build.props
@@ -2,15 +2,6 @@
 
   <Import Project="$([MSBuild]::GetPathOfFileAbove('Directory.Build.props', '$(MSBuildThisFileDirectory)../'))" />
 
-  <!-- 
-    When developers load the FSharp.Compiler.Service solution we set FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE to true if it hasn't already been set to a value.
-    This option ensures that building and testing uses the specified FSharp.Core nuget package instead of the local
-    FSharp.Core project.
-  -->
-  <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE)' == ''">
-    <FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE Condition="'$(SolutionName)' == 'FSharp.Compiler.Service'">true</FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE>
-  </PropertyGroup>
-
   <PropertyGroup>
     <DisableImplicitFSharpCoreReference>true</DisableImplicitFSharpCoreReference>
     <UseStandardResourceNames>false</UseStandardResourceNames>
diff --git a/tests/FSharp.Compiler.ComponentTests/FSharp.Compiler.ComponentTests.fsproj b/tests/FSharp.Compiler.ComponentTests/FSharp.Compiler.ComponentTests.fsproj
index e6e08b27af7..5ce56760ada 100644
--- a/tests/FSharp.Compiler.ComponentTests/FSharp.Compiler.ComponentTests.fsproj
+++ b/tests/FSharp.Compiler.ComponentTests/FSharp.Compiler.ComponentTests.fsproj
@@ -212,8 +212,15 @@
   <ItemGroup>
     <ProjectReference Include="$(FSharpSourcesRoot)\Compiler\FSharp.Compiler.Service.fsproj" />
     <ProjectReference Include="$(FSharpSourcesRoot)\FSharp.Compiler.Interactive.Settings\FSharp.Compiler.Interactive.Settings.fsproj" />
-    <ProjectReference Include="$(FSharpSourcesRoot)\FSharp.Core\FSharp.Core.fsproj" />
     <ProjectReference Include="$(FSharpTestsRoot)\FSharp.Test.Utilities\FSharp.Test.Utilities.fsproj" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
+  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE)' != 'true'">
+    <ProjectReference Include="$(FSharpSourcesRoot)\FSharp.Core\FSharp.Core.fsproj" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
+  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE)' == 'true'">
+    <PackageReference Include="FSharp.Core" Version="$(FSharpCoreShippedPackageVersionValue)" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
 </Project>
diff --git a/tests/benchmarks/FCSBenchmarks/BenchmarkComparison/HistoricalBenchmark.fsproj b/tests/benchmarks/FCSBenchmarks/BenchmarkComparison/HistoricalBenchmark.fsproj
index 9ba7d1306ce..0c31b2eaee2 100644
--- a/tests/benchmarks/FCSBenchmarks/BenchmarkComparison/HistoricalBenchmark.fsproj
+++ b/tests/benchmarks/FCSBenchmarks/BenchmarkComparison/HistoricalBenchmark.fsproj
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@
   <!-- Reference a project -->
   <ItemGroup Condition="'$(FcsReferenceType)' == 'project'">
     <ProjectReference Include="$(FcsProjectPath)" />
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\..\src\FSharp.Core\FSharp.Core.fsproj" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <!-- Reference the FCS NuGet package with the specified $FcsVersion, use locally built FSharp.Core
        Arguably this could be changed to depend on the version of FSharp.Core that's pulled in via FSharp.Compiler.Service.
@@ -48,8 +47,16 @@
   -->
   <ItemGroup Condition=" '$(FcsReferenceType)' == 'nuget' ">
     <PackageReference Include="FSharp.Compiler.Service" Version="$(FcsNuGetVersion)" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
+  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE)' != 'true'">
     <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\..\src\FSharp.Core\FSharp.Core.fsproj" />
   </ItemGroup>
+
+  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE)' == 'true'">
+    <PackageReference Include="FSharp.Core" Version="$(FSharpCoreShippedPackageVersionValue)" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
   <!-- Reference the dlls specified in $FcsDllPath and $FSharpCoreDllPath -->
   <ItemGroup Condition=" '$(FcsReferenceType)' == 'dll' ">
     <Reference Include="FSharp.Compiler.Service">
diff --git a/tests/benchmarks/FCSBenchmarks/CompilerServiceBenchmarks/FSharp.Compiler.Benchmarks.fsproj b/tests/benchmarks/FCSBenchmarks/CompilerServiceBenchmarks/FSharp.Compiler.Benchmarks.fsproj
index 7f30aa71776..babf2c4e0ec 100644
--- a/tests/benchmarks/FCSBenchmarks/CompilerServiceBenchmarks/FSharp.Compiler.Benchmarks.fsproj
+++ b/tests/benchmarks/FCSBenchmarks/CompilerServiceBenchmarks/FSharp.Compiler.Benchmarks.fsproj
@@ -27,8 +27,15 @@
 
   <ItemGroup>
     <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\..\src\Compiler\FSharp.Compiler.Service.fsproj" />
-    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\..\src\FSharp.Core\FSharp.Core.fsproj" />
     <ProjectReference Include="..\BenchmarkComparison\HistoricalBenchmark.fsproj" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
+  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE)' != 'true'">
+    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\..\..\src\FSharp.Core\FSharp.Core.fsproj" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
+  <ItemGroup Condition="'$(FSHARPCORE_USE_PACKAGE)' == 'true'">
+    <PackageReference Include="FSharp.Core" Version="$(FSharpCoreShippedPackageVersionValue)" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
 </Project>